Belleville, Ontario, keeps a secondhand book trade small enough to cover in one day with a car. Downtown pairs Paraphernalia Books 'N' Stuff, which since fall 2025 has traded from inside a bicycle shop on Front Street, with the library Friends' room on Pinnacle Street, a short stroll apart. The Bay View Mall on Dundas Street East holds both the Alzheimer Society's book sales and Cool World Comics, while J&B Books runs its used-book branch on Quinte Street in Trenton, part of the city of Quinte West and of the same census metropolitan area. Dollar figures below are Canadian.
Two moves in 2025 left older listings out of date. A summer fire pushed Paraphernalia out of its previous downtown unit, and the Belleville Intelligencer covered its fall reopening at 290 Front Street. Cool World Comics moved two doors along the corridor in the mall that fall, according to its own Facebook page, with a smaller range and new opening times.
Timing counts for more than geography here. The local Alzheimer Society chapter has held used book sales in Belleville since the late 1980s, three a year, each in the first week of February, June or November, which makes early November 2026 the next window. Sellers get less to go on than buyers, so ask at a counter what it takes in before loading the car.
Used books and British goodsParaphernalia Books 'N' Stuff
290 Front St, Belleville, ON
Downtown, inside Stephen Licence Ltd., a long-running family bicycle and hobby business, after the blaze of June 27, 2025 wrecked the ceiling of the shop's earlier Front Street premises and, by inQuinte's August 2025 count, destroyed 150 books along with puzzles and tin signs. The Belleville Intelligencer reported in November 2025 that the shop had celebrated its reopening at number 290 on October 30, and traced the business from a Bowmanville flea market in 1999 through an Oshawa storefront in 2002 to downtown Belleville in June 2023. Its Instagram bio promises used books and more beside the British treats, jigsaw puzzles and gifts, the Downtown Belleville business association repeated the Tuesday-to-Saturday hours in an Instagram post on April 23, 2026, and owner Susan Chambers wrote in the Belleville Neighbours Facebook group on June 26, 2026 to mark the fire's first anniversary.
Hours: Tue–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite New and used bookstoreJ&B Books (used books)
50 Quinte St, Trenton, ON K8V 3S9
Over in Trenton, in the city of Quinte West, where J&B began as a comic store and used-book exchange more than 30 years ago by its own account and has since split across two addresses: cards, comics and gaming at 97 Dundas Street West, and the book side, new titles and used ones, here on Quinte Street. The website gives this branch a grid of its own, open all seven days. On June 8, 2026 the shop's bookstore Instagram account reminded followers that it doubles as a used bookstore, where classics and special editions turn up on the shelves, and on July 27, 2026 it wrote up a weekend at the Fantasy Ball wrapping Blind Dates with a Book.
Hours: Mon 10am–5pm, Tue–Fri 9:30am–5:30pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun 11am–4pmWebsite Friends of the Library bookstoreFOL Book Store (Belleville Public Library)
Belleville Public Library, 254 Pinnacle St, Belleville, ON K8N 3B1
A volunteer-run room beside the lobby of the Belleville Public Library, stocked and staffed by its Friends group, a charity founded in 1997 by the library's account and credited with more than $250,000 put toward equipment, furniture and new books. Stock is mostly donated by residents, topped up with some titles withdrawn from the library's own collection, and a 2023 Library Line column in the Intelligencer put most prices at a dollar or less. The library's page and that column give the same weekly schedule, and the Friends' Facebook page flagged a fresh batch of arrivals on July 23, 2026.
Hours: Mon–Sat 11am–3pmWebsite Charity used book saleAlzheimer Society Used Book Sale
Bay View Mall, 470 Dundas St E, Unit 63, Belleville, ON K8N 1G1
Three-day sales in the Bay View Mall run by the Alzheimer Society of Hastings-Prince Edward, which pins them to the first Tuesday-to-Thursday stretch of February, June and November and lowers the prices each day. Its Facebook announcement of January 27, 2026 laid out the February run: $4 hardcovers and $3 paperbacks on Tuesday, $2 and $1.50 on Wednesday, then $15 for a filled bag on Thursday, with credit and debit taken. The society's event page placed the next edition on June 2 to 4, 2026, and a post that June 8 reported the sale had raised over $5,600. The same January notice pointed to a standing selection of books at the society's office in the mall on weekdays, and its donation rules cap drop-offs at five small boxes per family and bar textbooks, encyclopedia volumes and the Reader's Digest condensed series.
Where can I find cheap used books in Belleville?
Begin with the two charity outlets. The Friends of the Library room beside the Pinnacle Street lobby is the everyday option, with donated stock that a 2023 Library Line column called very inexpensive, and it keeps its door open Monday to Saturday. The Alzheimer Society's mall sales get cheaper as the week goes on: the February 2026 run started at $4 a hardcover and $3 a paperback on the Tuesday, dropped to half those prices on the Wednesday, then $15 a bagful on the Thursday. For genre fiction by post or local pickup, The Bookstore On Pluto keeps a $2 bin online.
Where do I sell used books in Belleville?
Selling takes some legwork: J&B's website names no buying terms, so bring a sample to the counter and ask before hauling the rest. Comics have a clearer route, since the Facebook bio of Cool World in the Bay View Mall pitches buying, selling and swapping old comics. Science fiction and fantasy collections are another exception: The Bookstore On Pluto asks sellers to contact it and says it pays more than most, while admitting it is picky. Anything left over can go to the Alzheimer Society, up to five small boxes per family during office hours, or be dropped at the library Friends' room, and both say no to encyclopedias, textbooks and condensed Reader's Digest editions. Snap the shelf with BiblioScan before choosing a pile: it prices every spine it recognizes from that one photo, and the handful worth real money can be listed yourself, on Kijiji for local buyers or on eBay.ca, Amazon.ca and AbeBooks for the wider market.
When is the big book sale in Belleville?
Plan around the Alzheimer Society's sales: three a year in the Bay View Mall, each opening a Tuesday early in February, June or November and running to Thursday, in a series the charity traces back to 1989. The 2026 editions so far fell on February 3 to 5 and June 2 to 4, and the society reported the June one raised over $5,600, so the next is due in early November 2026. Tuesday brings full prices and the widest choice, Wednesday halves them, and Thursday is the fill-a-bag day.
Which day is best for book hunting in Belleville?
Tuesday through Saturday you'll find all four storefronts on this page trading, and Saturday suits most schedules: Paraphernalia, the Friends' room, Cool World and J&B's Trenton branch all open that day. Monday narrows the list to the library room and J&B, since Paraphernalia and Cool World close. Sunday leaves J&B alone among them, open from late morning into the afternoon. When a sale week comes round, make it Tuesday and go to the mall before anywhere else.